History Of Reigatians

Recent History

After the difficult period of decline in the early ‘naughties’, Reigatians turned the corner and forthe past decade have been on an upward curve once again. The past few seasons have beenvery successful. In the 2009/10 season the first team were languishing in 8th position in Division2 South. Five promotions (four of them as champions) has seen them progress through Division1 South, Intermediate South and Senior Division 3 South and Senior Division 2. The 2017/18season saw the team reach its highest ever position and miss promotion to the Premier divisionby just one point. The team also reached the first ever Senior cup final losing narrowly to localrivals Dorkinians.This success was started when Tim Carr took over the running of the side in 2010/11.Having notplayed regularly for a few seasons, Tim was fortunate that there were some new players in theclub, but he quickly identified the best players and built a strong squad. Promotion followed in2010/11 but the team reached a different level the following year, winning 13 consecutive gamesto win Division 1 south. Tim stepped down at the end of the 2011/12 season to run the reserves,with Marc Ashdown taking over the reins. 2 more successive championships followed with someof the most exciting football played by a Reigatians team along with a win in the Keith Hinckleycup. After a couple of years of consolidation with the team changing a number of personnelJustin David took over the running of the side. This saw further success with the Senior 2 Southchampionship being won in 2017/18. The following season saw the team looking set forpromotion the whole year, leading the way for most of the season only for cruel fortune to denythe team promotion having achieved 41 points and a 3 rd place finish. A brilliant run to the final ofthe AFA Surrey/Kent senior final saw the game postponed due to a snowstorm and in theeventual final early nerves saw us fall behind to an early Dorkinians goal. The rest of the gamewas very tight and close with a last minute Dorking goal giving the score line a flattering look. A5-1 hammering of Dorking Wanderers in the Dorking charity cup final was a small consolation.

This success has not only been achieved by the first team. The reserves are now playing in aIntermediate South 4 divisions higher than five years ago after a series of promotions. Thereserves have also reached the semi finals of four cup semi finals without being able to quite getto the major final.

The 3 rd team now play in Division 2 South. They won Division 7 south under the joint stewardshipof a Joel Davis and Nico Barclay in 2013/14 having won Division 8 South with the 4ths theprevious year. 2017-18 saw the 6 th team win Division 8 south under Max Coopers captaincy.Off the field Tim Carr stepped aside as chairman in 2014, followed by Mark Allen and latterlyGordon Walker.

But this historic club itself began many many years ago…..

1923 – 1950 – A Stuttering Start

The end of each of the two great wars of this century heralded a period when, not surprisingly,the nation as a whole became obsessed with leisure activities. Freed at last from the physicaland emotional shackles of war, people began to play and to watch others play. The fierce, yetfriendly, conflict of the sports field was gratefully seized upon by the public at large as a welcomecontrast to the deathly conflict that had gone before. Attendancies at all sporting fixtures rocketedand participation in sport reached record levels.

It was against this background of national enthusiasm that the Old Reigatian Association FootballClub was formed, back in 1923. The ‘association’ football being different to the ‘rugby’ footballthat some strange people still play. The name ‘soccer’ is a derivation of ‘association, which cameabout in the 1880’s when, in reply to being asked if he was coming to play ‘Rugger’, CharlesWexford-Brown replied “No, I’d rather play soccer”.The Old Reigatian Association in general was enjoying something of a revival – in 1922 the ORAtie was prepared and woven and in 1923 over 150 attended the annual dinner.. A good numberof ORA members played in local football and the idea of forming an Association Football Clubprobably spawned in several dressing room throughout the Borough as Old Reigatians inopposing teams got together over a few post-match jars.Ideas and talks, however, are no substitute for action and this was provided by one enthusiasticmember. E.C.Hallyer. In the early spring of 1923, together with H.S.E. Smith, W.R.J.Hodge andE.W. Farrington formed a provisional committee with Mike Meeten (the O.R.A. Chairman) asChairman. They resolved that an Old Reigatian Association Football Club should be formed andthat the first meeting of that club should take place 8th May 1923 at Reigate Grammar School.Although only 10 people attended this meeting (that’s more than we get for the A.G.M. nowthough!!!), the new Club was well received by O.R.A. members and twenty signed up to form theClub’s initial playing strength. The Club was entered for the 2nd Division of the Old Boys’ Leaguefor the 1923-1924 season with home games being played at The Ring at Earlswood. The ElmShades (now the Earlswood Arms) provided changing facilities at a cost of 2/6d per match and18 blue and green halved shirts were bought at 6/6d apiece and Old Reigatians AssociationFootball Club was born.The first season saw 12 wins, 3 draws and 10 losses, finishing 4th in the league with 27 pointsfrom 16 games. A year later, the same points tally saw the Club finish one position higher and 50goals made them the top scorers in the league.

A Second Team Added

For the 1925/26 season, the Club’s playing strength had increased to such an extent that areserve team was entered in the 4th Divisionof the same Old Boys’ League. They played at ‘TheClears’ in Reigate, the property of Mr West, who let the team use it for £4/-/- per season(including nets, posts, line marking and use of the pavilion for changing) and just avoidedfinishing last. The 1st XI continued to play at The Ring, using the awful pitch (no change there,then) to their advantage and securing a 100% home record and the Division Two Championshipinto the bargain – not bad for just their third season.The Old Boys’ League was growing stronger and the following season it was increased to sixdivisions with OR’s being in Divisions 1A and 4. Great seasons from both sides saw them wintheir respected Division Championships, with the 1st XI only losing one game and the Reservesonly two. To date, this achievement has not been matched within the Club. Indeed, the 1st XIhad to wait 43 years for another championship.Such great success was to be a death knell for the Club. The Grammar School has decided tomake rugby the winter sport (heathens!), which meant that the pool of players for soccer dried upand the Club ceased to exist without a ball being kicked the following season. Even the minutesof the Committee meeting remained unfinished.

A New Start

As the saying goes, ‘You can’t keep a good man down’ and this proved to be the case forORAFC. Players still played the wonderful game in other local sides and in 1937 a provisionalcommittee was formed to get things underway again and on 2nd April 1937 a General Meeting,Chaired by once more by E.C. Hallyer, was held for which 18 players attended.

The new club was entered into the 3rd Division and friendlies were arranged for the Reserves.The location of home games proved once again to be a problem. This time, use of the StMatthews United pitch on Redhill Sports Ground was obtained at a cost of £5/-/-. per season.This first season back saw the team take 28 points from 20 games, finishing 3rd. Although theteam’s defence had a poor record (averaging three goals a game conceded), the forwards morethan made up for this. One man in particular, Club Captain Les Peters, a strapping 18 year-oldnotched an incredibly 90 goals in this season and was picked to play in a Surrey Countyrepresentative match. The following year he notched 50 goals despite being on duty for a lot ofthe season for Redhill Reserves – a season that saw OR’s obtain their first cup success.

We Won the Cup!

The competition was the Old Boys’ Minor Cup (just known as the LOB Cup nowadays) and OR’sfaced the old enemy, Sinjuns on a windy day at the London University ground in Motspur Park.OR’s were 3-0 up at half-time through goals from Peters and Hemsley (2). Sinjuns got one backfrom the spot after the break, but Peters scored again to restore the three-goal cushion.However, Sinjuns were a determined side and laid siege to the Reigatian goal, pulling the scoreback to 4-3 with 8 minutes remaining, but OR’s held on for a fantastic victory.Line-up: E.Reeves, A.G.Smith, F.W.Brown, J.Wallace, F.Goodenough, T.Back, D.A.Cook,B.Reeves, L.T.Peters, K.P.T.Daniels, D.W.G.Hemsley.

War Clouds Gather

The cup was due to be presented at the League Supper in November of that year 1939, butsadly, the outbreak of another terrible war was to dictate that this ceremony should never takeplace. One of the least noted (and least important) effects of the Second World War was toprevent ORAFC from actually receiving its first piece of silverware.Third Time LuckyOld Boys football restarted very soon after the War had finished and OR’s were involved from thestart, thanks to the efforts of F.T.Lucas. The War did not diminish his enthusiasm for OldReigatians and he entered the Club in Division South A of the Old Boys’ League. This was by nomeans an easy task to accomplish; having entered the Club in the League, they now had to finda ground, a football, a set of shirts and, above all, players.They ended up at a monstrosity of a pitch on Wray Common with changing facilities consisting ofthe stables at one of the local houses, water for washing was scrounged from neighbours andfrequently the horse trough had to double-up as a team bath! (Never moan about the awfulshowers at the Priory again!)It was difficult to get a team together after the war. Of the 1939 cup winning side, only Wallace,Cook, Daniels and Hemsley were able to line up for the first post-war match. One of the biggestlosses as far as the playing strength of the Club was concerned was that of Peters who had,sadly, lost his life in the conflict. Those first years after the war were a battle for survival. A grantof £10 from the O.R.A. helped to tide things over, but times were hard and this was reflected inthe results on the pitch. A 12-1 defeat in their first fixture was followed by a string of losses and atone stage the Club offered to pull out of the League. The league, although understanding of theproblems, would nor hear of OR’s withdrawing and bid them to ‘soldier on and good luck to them,too!”Soldier on they did, braving appalling pitches, bad weather and unable to field a strong side. It isprobably here that the never-say-die spirit that still pervades the Club originated. Things startedto improve as the 1940’s were drawing to a close when the Club left Wray Common for ReigatePriory – a ground that the Club still uses to this day.

1950 – Looking Up

It was in 1950 that things started looking up for the Club. C.B.J. Hart started a 20 year run asChairman of the Club taking over from E.C.Hallyer who had retired after serving in the role since1925. F.T. Lucas became Vice-Chairman and a certain Claude Larkin became Secretary andthey provided the Club with a strong and loyal leadership.The playing strength increased to 36 and a Reserve team was entered into the newly formedDivision Three South, whilst the 1st XI had gained promotion to Division 1A. Perhaps the mostimportant developments of all in the 50’s was the extensive modernisation to the changing roomsat Reigate Priory, which meant, to the delight of the players, the installation of hot showers!

1950 – 1983 – Strength to Strength

The 1950’s were a period of tremendous growth for the ORAFC. They began with just a singleteam and ended up with a 4th XI being entered for the first time. Throughout the decade,National Service made the team Secretary’s role an extremely difficult one, but that OR spiritmeant that it always fulfilled its league and cup commitments. In 1953-54, three sides completedfull league programmes, despite the fact that there were only around 40 members who wereavailable to play on a regular basis. By the turn of the decade, however, the playing strength hadrisen to well over fifty and the Club was in a strong position.This strength did not overly manifest itself on the pitch, although there were some memorablemoments; the Reserves clinched promotion in the 52/53 season, the 1st XI reached the semi-final of the Surrey AFA Junior Cup and T.A. (Alf) Howe became the first Old Reigatian to beawarded a league badge after playing in three representative matches – a great individual feat.Off the field, however, things really began to take off. The social side of the Club was developedwith great enthusiasm with theatre trips, dances, concerts, tennis and table-tennis tournamentsbeing regular features of the Club calendar. The annual dinner became firmly established as amajor social occasion and was frequently attended by prominent speakers.The prime movers behind this social development were J. Peters and Claude Larkin, two of theClub’s keenest workers and most loyal servants. Peters took the Social Sub-Committee by thescruff of the neck and injected a host of new ideas and a considerable degree of organisationalskill. Larkin was the Club’s most regular representative at League meetings and in 1956 becamethe first Club member to be elected to the League Council and it was he who was largelyresponsible for the development of the Club’s annual dinner.‘The Reigatian’ is bornIn 1957 Larkin and Peters combined to produce the first issue of the Club’s news-sheet; TheReigatian. Edited by Larkin and produced by Peters, it was designed to stimulate interest andkeep members informed of the Club and League news. The newsletter continued through untilthe late 1990,s when a club website was established to fulfil the same function.

A Fourth Team

The 4th XI had its first season of League football in the 1960/61 season and it very nearly provedto be its last. The problem, as always, was a lack of players and the Club was censured by theLeague twice for failing to turn out a side. The position had improved a little by 1962, when RogerCraddock became team secretary, a job that he held for three consecutive years.In 1963/64 the number of players in the Club had actually decreased to a pool of just 50, fromwhich four teams had to be selected and the Club was suffering again. One stab of light wasprovided by J.W.S. Connelly who, in 1962, became only the third Club member to be selected for

a league representative team. The storm was weathered, however, and after the great socialsuccesses of the 50’s, there was some return on the field. Neil Farrar put the 1st XI into the finalof the Surrey AFA Junior Cup, which they battled well in, but lost 3-2 to Carshalton with a last-gasp goal. A month later the 1’s were in another cup final, the East Surrey Charity Cup, but againwere defeated, this time 5-2.

The Glory Days

Finally, the cup success came. It was two seasons later in the final of the Surrey AFA Junior Cupand the opponents were once again Carshalton Reserves. This time, however, the boot was onthe other foot and Carshalton had to taste the bitter pill of defeat. The match was played at theTemple Bar ground in Kingswood. R. Pearson opened the scoring for OR’s after 10 minutes andD. Parsons soon added a second. The third and decisive goal was scored by F. Harrington – aschoolboy who had been plucked from 3rd team obscurity to play in this game. Carshaltonscored a late consolation goal, but the cup belonged to Reigate at last and Roger Craddockbecame the first Club member to hold a trophy won by an Old Reigatian XI !!!Two weeks later the seal was set on a marvellous season when the Reserves, captained by M.Showell, clinched the Division 3 South championship. It was the Club’s first league championshipsince 1926/27 and heralded a prolonged period on on-the-field success.The following season saw a double promotion with both the 3’s and 4’s stepping up a division(Mick Cooke and Peter Carr being the respective captains). In the 1969/70 season, the 1st XIbecame Division 1 south champions for the first time, losing only once in the process – a greatachievement. The successful captain was D. Fenton and the team’s main offensive weapon wasDave Billing, who with 51 goals, was the top scorer in the entire Old Boys’ League. The Reservesalso managed some glory, becoming runners-up in the Charlwood Cup. The successes keptcoming and in amongst this and thanks to the efforts of members like Pete Carr, peter Millicanand Bob Emery that in 1969, to maintain its links with the school, a Minors XI was formed.At the end of the 70’s, and after much debate and discussion, the Club (together with the rest ofthe Old Boys’ League) went ‘open’ and allowed non old school boys to help the Club prosperthrough increased potential for new players.

1984 and that green juggernaut

The increased potential for new players was quickly realised and in 1984 the Club was able tofield a 5th XI for the first time and confidence was high. Success arrived in no uncertain fashionon 1st and 2nd May 1987. The Club, which had only won three cup trophies in its previous 64year history, suddenly found itself with two trophies to put into its (unbuilt) trophy cabinet in its(unbuilt Club House) at its (unbuilt) ground. The pots in question were the Dorking Junior CharityCup (the 1st XI, captained by Dave Setters, beating arch-rivals Old Dorkinians) followed by theReserves, captained by Dave Smith, beating Brockham to win the Charlwood Cup. Coupled withthis was the fact that the 3’s and 4’s both won promotion in the same season. As Mr Setters said;

“The green juggernaut is on the move!”

The following season saw the arrival of a 6th XI and Roger Craddock’s 30th consecutive seasonwith the Club. At the celebratory ‘bash’ Uncle Roger admitted to being almost 39 years old. Thejuggernaut was going up and down gears and there was mixed considerable success on thefield.

John Ryder had joined the club in the mid 1980’s and after Dave Setters term as captain tookover the running of the first team. John increased the fitness and on field organisation of theteams and built a framework of a way of playing that allowed us to be successful over a 15 yearperiod. Numerous promotions were won (although with an annoying tendency to take runner uppositions), we were very competitive in AFA and LOB cup competitions, and Spring regularly saw

Reigatians sides in the finals of the local charities cups, Dorking, Charlwood and Keith HinckleyMemorial often with large vociferous support from the sidelines.A particular highlight was the 3 rdand 4 th team playing each in the final of the Charlwood cup. Details in the awards section.As we approached the millennium the 1 st team under the captaincy of Mark Dickins had achievedits highest ever league position (at that time)in Senior Division 1. In 1998/99 the 3 rd teamskippered by Roger Dixon reached the LOB Junior Cup final losing to goals in the last minute ofeach half to a very strong Phoenix OB 3 rd .In 1996/97 the club entered a7th team in the league and even won a division in the late 1990’sunder Nick’s leadership.

During this period Steve Craddock and Hamish Mansbridge both regularly played in the leaguerepresentative team outlining the strength of the club at this time.

Throughout this period until the early 2000’s Terry Harvey oversaw the club as chairman,providing inspirational leadership, despite prolonged spells of ill health.IIn addition to the many awards received for on-the-pitch successes, OR’s also won the FredAtkins Sportsmanship Trophy in 1984, 1987 and then in 1990. This proved that there was then,or will never be, a ‘win at all costs’ mentality to the Club. In 2004/05 the club was awarded theAFA Wilkinson Sword for sportsmanship.

A new millennium and difficult times

As the new millennium arrived, what had been a seemingly one way journey to more successsaw a very difficult time in the modern history of the club. As most of our sides reached thehighest levels in our history, our playing base became somewhat older, and a very difficult fewyears arrived on the pitch. Teams would regularly only win a couple of games in a season andover the decade there were a number of relegations.Two important steps were taken by the club through this difficult period. The first step was tochange the name of the club. Over recent years the connection between Reigate Grammarschool and the club had become much looser, with many in the club feeling there was noconnection at all. A proposal was made that the club should change its name to try andencourage players to join who may otherwise consider us a veterans or closed club.Unfortunately the debate stirred strong emotions on all sides ( a Reigatians Brexit!!), and therewere people on both sides of the debate who fell out and it caused some ill feeling.From the 2004/05 season onwards, ‘Old’ was dropped from the club name which from thenonwards has been Reigatians AFC.The second step was to have 2 junior sides locally, move to the Reigatians name and althoughthis was a long term strategy, many of the players in the two former Perrywood sides have beenstalwarts of Successful Reigatians teams in the last ten years.Whilst this was undoubtedly a difficult period in the clubs history, the spirit in the club remainedintact. At the end of the decade we were still running six sides and on the field things were aboutto improve…..

The Club is much more than 90 minutes on a Saturday. There is a tremendous spirit that existsin the Club; a spirit that makes the Club a delight to play for – win, lose or draw. The Club is wellorganised with a hard-working and conscientious committee and has many skilled and committedplayers.

And so the green juggernaut continues on its way. It may not be fast, but it gets there and it’sbloody hard to knock off the road.